Map/Chart > The Middle States

A Plan of the Attack of Fort Sullivan near Charles Town in South Carolina.

The inset map and the written account details the dramatic action surrounding the British naval assault on Fort Sullivan (called here ‘Sulivan’), which was considered to be the strategic key to Charleston.

Chart Information

Reference:

A307

Date

10th August 1776

Hydrographer/Surveyor/Artist:

William Faden

Size Of Original:

w 17" x h 21"

Paper Type

Hahnemuhle German Etching 310gsm

Further Information

This print is
available framed. Framed delivery to USA & Canada only.

Chart ID

Size

Dimensions

Print Only

Framed

Notes

A307

Original

w17" x h21"

$88

$269

1.5" frame

Frames
available in either black or brown wood with UV protective acrylic glazing. Please go to the drop down menu to
select your choice.

Read the full Chart History here:

This print is from a very rare 1st
edition of this historic publication of events near Charleston South Carolina
on July 28th 1776.It
was printed and sold by William Faden, Geographer to the King..." The
original document was a Copper-engraved map, with a one-line dedication to Sir
Peter Parker and it includes letterpress text in two columns beneath the map,
giving a full account of the events which took place from the 1st to
the 28th July, taken from correspondence from Commodore Sir Peter
Parker and Lieutenant-General Clinton to the Lords of the Admiralty. It was
William Faden’s first Revolutionary war battle plan to be published and the
text in two columns is found only on this issue. Later issues, without text,
appeared in Faden's North American Atlas.

Having lost control of Charleston to the
American forces in the Spring of 1776, the British were in danger of losing
control of the whole of South Carolina and their ‘southern strategy’ was in
jeopardy. A fleet of twenty ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Peter
Parker was dispatched from Cape Fear on the 1st June 1776.Parker’s squadron included troop
carriers full of marines, with the mission under the overall command of
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton.

By the 4th July the squadron
was anchored off Charlestown bar and by the 9th July Clinton had
landed somewhere between four and five hundred marines on Long Island, to the North
of ‘Sulivans’ Island. The American’s defending Charleston, led by Colonel
Moultrie, were ill prepared with inexperienced troops and inadequate supply of
ammunition.Adding to the problem
faced by the American defenders was the uncertainty that the Fort on the
southern end of Sullivan’s island would not stand the test to which it was
about to be put. The fort was not of stone standard construction, instead, it’s
walls being constructed of Earth and Palmetto logs. With little more than 1,000
men, a mere 26 guns with 28 rounds on ammunition apiece, Moultrie was facing a
British force nearly three times its number with over 250 well stocked guns.

As events turned out the British
proceeded to make a series of strategic errors including relying on information
given by American harbour pilots who were press-ganged into service. As it
happened, in the three weeks it took the British to finally settle on a plan
and timeframe for the final attack the Americans, under Colonel William
Thompson were able to fortify the northern tip of the island with Redoubts as marked
on the map.

The inset plan shows specifically the British
naval assault of the fort, as indicated on the map by the ships shown grouped
together just off of the fort.Each ship is named and detailed with its
number of guns.

For his part Moultrie rationed and
synchronized the use of his limited firepower, to make the best of his
situation.The Palmetto log and
earth construction of the fort as it turned out proved to be a major factor in
the eventual American success as the British cannon balls were unable to shatter
or break the walls.Indeed, the
soft and spring-loaded wood harmlessly absorbed the impact.

British difficulties with navigation
within the harbour continued as Parker’s ships struggled with the tidal shoals
that lay near the fort.They British
were unable to sail in close enough to the fort to deliver lethal blows, while
remaining in range of the American guns. On the 28th, the day of the
major assault no less than three British frigates were run aground ‘owing to
the ignorance of the pilot’.The
British flagship HMS Bristol took heavy losses and the Faden’s plan lists 40
killed with 71 wounded on her alone.A final attempt to storm Thomson's northern redoubts was easily repelled
and the British were forced to completely withdraw.This engagement is widely regarded as being one of the most
significant actions of the revolutionary war.